I've seen the Arbiters-style before but they weren't by Arbiter then. There used be similarly functioning kits in the late80's/early 90's made by a company called Purecussion, Inc. That was called the RIMS Headset.
The RIMS Headset was made by the same company that, in a nutshell, sold DW on the first generation isolation mounting systems which revolutionized how the drumming community approached how they mounted their drums. This eventually trickled down from high end custom kits then all the way down to alot of entry level sets sold today.
I think the same guy (Gary Gauger) was involved with the Purecussion company that initially sold these HeadSets. He claims to be the inventor and that could very well be true. He is now running the current GPI company who holds the patent on RIMS and is the primary manufacturer and distributor of the replacement parts for the out-of-production HeadSet kits.
Since I imagine that most manufacturers found a way to circumvent the patent licensing, Purecussion seemed to fade away into the night. Their flagship product, RIMS drum mounts, are still offered today from GPI although the summary given in their "About" section doesn't make any direct reference or mention about Purecussion except they sell certain "OEM" HeadSet replacement parts. Probably something he wants to put behind him, I'd imagine. The inventor of these style of kits and hardware is still alive and kicking online here:
http://www.gaugerpercussion.com
I remember when the RIMS first came out. I was one of the earliest adopters to refit my Ludwig Classics with them and it made a marked difference with their sustain. At the time, they were an after-market niche add-on. Little did anyone know then how much that little invention would basically revolutionize the drum hardware industry to re-think and implement their similarly functioning tom mounting systems.
Anyway, just a little backstory..
